MAPUSA: Defense lawyer, Adv Nigel D’Costa Frias has said that his client actor/director Gaurav Bakshi has been granted bail by JMFC Mapusa and has been released from custody. We will now challenge the FIR and decide what to do further.
Allegations against Bakshi were that he
blocked the minister Nilkanth Halarnkar’s car which was wrongly parked blocking
the access to the Revora Panchayat, where the minister had gone. The driver
refused to move the car, when asked by Bakshi.
Bakshi’s family alleged that infact it was Minister
Nilkanth Halarnkar who was harassing him and his family. Bakshi's wife Rupendra Kaur also stated that the
allegations are false and that this is simply police harassment. The matter was
heard by the JMFC Mapusa on Friday morning and bail granted by afternoon.
Adv Nigel Costa Frias said the FIR was
false and motivated and justice will be done by the court. There was no case
for an FIR or an arrest. Bakshi surrendered due to pressure on him and his
family since he was to be arrested the previous night and then again in the morning.
There was no urgency and there was no case for arrest since the case was not
serious.
The prosecution said there was an
altercation between him and the minister and that he obstructed the minister’s vehicle.
The prosecution also said that he gave bytes to media that the minister was
corrupt among other things.
Bakshi's wife Rupendra Kaur said, “The
matter was inflated and created. There was no basis for an FIR. The entire
family had to go through harassment and this could have been avoided. Initially,
there were two bailable sections, but then a non-bailable section was added by
the police.”